Income Tax: If there is no information about foreign shares and other foreign assets in your Income Tax Return (ITR), then you may have to suffer a lot. Heavy fines can be imposed on those who do not provide correct and complete information. Those people can be held liable for violation of the Black Money Act, 2015.
According to media reports, Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh per year on these people, who did not report foreign shares and other assets in ‘Schedule FA’ of ITR.
Please note that
if a person has invested directly in foreign assets (like foreign shares, foreign company mutual funds etc.) or holds employee stock options (ESOPs) of foreign companies, then it is mandatory for him to file Schedule FA of ITR.
It was told that such a heavy fine was imposed in view of those people who have deposited black money abroad in the form of undeclared foreign assets. It was also said that due to lack of information people were not able to fill Schedule FA. Officials in the know say that in some cases, tax tribunals have waived the penalties imposed by income tax authorities.
What is Schedule FA?
A Schedule FA in ITR return stands for Foreign Assets. In such a situation, if you have any foreign asset like shares, house or anything else, then you will have to declare it while filing your ITR. If you do not do this, a heavy fine of Rs 10 lakh can be imposed. At the same time, if you do not have any property, then if you get a notice, then you will have to prove that the property is not yours.
